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Prince Charming Has Left The Building
June 16, 2010According to the National Retail Federation last Halloween approximately 4.5 million little girls wore princess costumes. Princess costumes were the most purchased Halloween costume for the fifth year in a row. It seems that most little girls want to be princesses. I know I did.
In fact I wanted to be a princess so much that when I grew up I just expected prince charming was going to ride in on his white horse and take care of me. Well a man showed up but he was certainly not a prince and absolutely not charming. But I clung to the fantasy that he would turn into the prince of my dreams.
In my fantasy my prince would provide for me and I would never have to worry about finances because he would take care of everything. Well he took care of the finances alright and gave me an allowance and I had to account for every penny. He withheld money as one form of control over my life. In fact he took care of the finances so well we ended up filing bankruptcy.
I never learned money management skills before I was married and he controlled the money while we were married so when I finally left him I had to learn personal money management skills. But first I had to overcome my fear of my ability to manage my own money.
I was thirty nine years old and had never managed my own money. It was a long road but I learned the personal money management skills I needed to create the life I dreamed of - a life without violence and free to live the independent life I choose.
In her book “Money, A Memoir” author Liz Perle interviewed Joline Godfrey, Founder and CEO of Independent Means. Ms. Godfrey says “It is stunning how many girls still think they will marry well.” Ms. Godfrey fears that, as a culture, we are not making financial independence a central element in girls’ sense of identity, which makes it much easier for them to disconnect from financial responsibility.
According to her research Ms. Perle found:
· Women still earn only 78% of what men earn for the same jobs.
· Only a third of women have positions that even offer retirements plans.
· And because about half of all working women take time off at some point to care for their families, the value of their retirement funds is lowered even further by these interruptions.
· Between one-third and two-thirds of women now thirty-five to fifty-five years old will be impoverished by age seventy.
Yes let your daughters, granddaughters and nieces be a princess on Halloween but teach them that they are responsible for their financial futures and give them the skills they need to manage their finances. Let them know that Prince Charming doesn't exist.
Posted by Nancy Salamone. Posted In : Fear of Money
Nancy Salamone’s career and personal accomplishments are vast and varied. For more than three decades Nancy has shown extraordinary leadership during her business career and through her personal endeavors. Her accomplishments include 25 years as an executive for major Wall Street financial services companies, her devotion to “giving back” through her non-profit work, her teaching and her visionary creation of “The Business of Me”, a curriculum that teaches financial self-sufficiency to women survivors of domestic violence.
Write to me at nancy(@)thebusinessofme.com or for general information write to info(@)thebusinessofme.com. We look forward to hearing from you.
